If you’re anything like me, you probably think that losing weight and getting down to a healthy size will make EVERYTHING better. You’ll look good and feel great, unicorns and rainbows will pave the ground you walk on.
Everyone’s heard the feel-good stories. Geez, www.stuff.co.nz has a new inspirational story every few days! Mostly people just talk about how many dress, or pant sizes they dropped, their new eating habits (I’m lookin’ at you Paleo diet) and how their life is amazing now. We’re constantly exposed to these types of stories on TV too, think Mel B for Jenny Craig, or Jared, the Subway guy.
Turns out it’s not all unicorns and rainbows! Don’t get me wrong, losing a lot of weight is AWESOME, but there’s plenty of shit to deal with along the way. Some of which, you might want to be prepared for.
Someone give me a pay rise, I need news clothes…AGAIN!
The first time you have to shop for new, smaller clothes is great. It’s reward for the new lifestyle you’ve been carving out for yourself, it’s empowering and motivating! Problem is, once your weight loss mission is in full swing, those new clothes only last a month, maybe two, then you have to shop some more.
The expense of gaining weight was spread out over years, I remember buying size 38 jeans when I was studying at uni, and I remember buying size 44 jeans just a few months before getting started with my weight loss mission. That’s 6 sizes in about 10 years. Compare that to my most recent purchase; size 32 skinny jeans (I can’t believe I wear skinny jeans now!!). I’ve dropped 12 pant sizes in about 18 months! At some point, ya just kinda give up, instead of buying new pants I was putting new notches in my belt.
It’s not just pants; shirts, t-shirts, shorts, jersey’s, jackets and underwear. The pile of virtually brand new clothes and wardrobe faves that I’ve donated to charity is huge. Throughout this mission I’ve made a point of getting rid of clothes as soon as I’m done wearing them. Some things I wore until they were ridiculously big, but once I was done, they’re goneskies. I’m making a point to myself that’s there’s no going back, there’s no backup plan in case I put weight back on, this is the new me.
My advice is to squirrel some money away, get by on what you can until you hit a steady weight and you’re ready to transform your wardrobe. I’d also suggest you go shopping with someone you trust because there’s a good chance you’re objectivity has been compromised. You spend years buying clothes that attempt to hide how big you are, but as you start to lose large amounts of weight, you’ll want to buy clothes that fit you properly. Problem is you don’t know what fits properly! The size you think you are and your actual size are quite often two very different things. You’ll actually need to learn what fits and get used to how that feels. This is where your trusted shopping assistant comes in. Get them to give you honest feedback about what you try on and how it looks, because I guarantee you’ll instinctively reach for things that are at least a size too big for you.
It’s always friggin cold!
Didn’t see this coming. I always thought I was just a warm person, like maybe my blood ran a degree or two warmer than other people. It never occurred to me that when you’re extremely overweight you don’t feel the cold. I mean it makes sense I suppose, but when you’ve lived most of your life as an obese person, you don’t think about it, it’s just your reality.
Now that I weigh 68kg (and we’re just coming out of winter) I’ve been constantly freezing. I used to wear short-sleeve shirts all the way through winter, but now long-johns and thermal tops have become a staple in my wardrobe, I even had to buy me some gloves for my walks to work in the morning. I used to hate electric blankets and now I’m first to fire it up and hit the boost button! I used to dread the idea of summer too- single layers of clothes with nowhere to hide. Now I’m craving the warmth, someone please tell me New Zealand is getting a summer this year!
If you’re part way through your own weight loss mission, be ready to feel the cold. Wear an extra layer when you go out, stash a jacket in the car or something, coz it’s gonna be cold like you never felt before!
OMG, someone get me a ring cushion!
Strip away 60kg of additional padding and it goes without saying that your bones are much, much closer to the surface than they were before. And don’t I know it, coz my my tail bone kills me! To the point where I’ve even had to learn how to sit again. I know, what does that even mean?! But I’m telling you, if I sit in a chair the way I always have, it takes about 4 minutes and 17 seconds before it feels like my tail bone is busting through my…well you get it. Not to mention the extra bones I’ve become aware of. When your knowledge of human anatomy is as limited as mine, suddenly being able to feel your sternum is not just weird but kinda scary! I mean, why the hell is there a lump in the middle of my chest all of a sudden?! Ok, apparently it holds my ribs together and that’s kind-of important. Oh and, how soft does a bed need to be so that you don’t feel your hip bones when you’re lying on your side?!
I guess it’s going to take some time to get used to my new body. In a little over two years I’ve nearly halved my size, but it took me 15+ years to blowout to 127kgs. 15 years is plenty of time for my body and mind to make lots of little adjustments to accommodate all that extra weight, hopefully it doesn’t take 15 more to get used to being a bit smaller.
Did I just get snubbed? I think I just got snubbed!
Not everyone is going to be happy for you. I’m not in the mood to explore the psychology behind weight loss and its effects on other people right now, but you ought to be prepared for a world of different reactions to the new you and the shit people will say to you. There are people I would have considered friends that just don’t acknowledge me anymore. I’m not talkin’ about close friends here, but people that you might bump into and decide to catch up for a coffee. Assuming you don’t become a dickhead with the new fitter and healthier version of yourself, this is their problem, not yours! I got 99 problems but these people aren’t one!
I’m not trying to put you off with any of this, these are simply my own observations and experiences. I wouldn’t trade any amount of the weight I’ve lost for a pain-free tail bone, or one of those not-so-friends back.
– Shane
This article tells the truth, I feel you brother. I had to donate and throw away a lot of clothes because they just don’t fit anymore. The 36, jeans and belt just felt uncomfortable and not to mention during Winter (in Canada) is freezing because when I was a little fat, it felt normal to be wearing shorts and a T-Shirt, now I need like layers of clothing to keep myself from going crazy.
Seriously, losing WEIGHT is frigging expensive! New clothes, new lifestyle of food, and new habits, urgh.